A Joy-filled Heart

It's only mid-January, and my year has already been an eventful one. Only because yesterday was the first of the many Master Plan bible studies scheduled for 2014. And, oh the challenge that comes with allowing words of Jesus to shape you from the inside out. This year should prove to be life-changing.

Among those that have challenged my heart, and my very lifestyle as a child of God are the red words which call me to a life of JOY, no matter what presses me from the outside.

"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." - John 15:11 emphasis added

 There it is. Those words that shout His intention for the condition of my heart. But, is it possible to find joy amidst the piles of unfolded laundry? In a house that's "not nearly clean enough" (a story for another time...)? In the busy-ness that meets me as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning? Dare I say yes? Yes. Lord, please.

It's in these places that I am reminded that it's not even MY joy that I house, it's HIS. The Joy of Jesus. And further, His Word is what fuels HIS JOY inside me. What a gift. That in the midst of this life, in what I often see as overwhelming (and even disappointing at times), He speaks and creates joy that can fill a soul.

Father, 

   Forgive me for foolishly believing that Joy comes by any other means

than by Your Word. Open my ears to hear You speaking, and cause my heart to 

to open the JOY that fills every moment.

Thank you for Joy, Lord.

Amen.